Asking for advice with a shady photo project

And nope the neighbors wife is not involved.

I am to spend a week in the Eureka, California and the Redwoods area the last part of May and anticipate some less than stellar shooting conditions. Realizing of course, lighting will be less than great in the dense woods, fog and ovrecast weather, even rain and mist, is not uncommon.

Will be packing an S3 IS and not much else. It does have the converter, etc. and I can stuff filters on that. Just not used to the limited light and was hoping some of you folks could pass on some experiences or ideas on what to accumulate that would enhance the situation.

Thank you

Jim Curts

I do (and have done) a lot of photography in remote forested regions, so some of what I have to say will be valid.

Yes, light levels can be painfully dim at times. So be prepared for longer exposures. If you have a compact mini-tripod, monopod, etc. it can help a lot. If you want ultra-compact, make a "strap bipod", a 12 ft. length of 1" wide nylon webbing with a 1/4-20 short bolt in the center of its length. Screw bolt into camera's tripod socket, step on each end of the strap with your feet, pull UP on the camera. Instant tripod (if you consider your body the other leg of the tripod).

Practice-up now on your hand-held photo skills. Chasing little bugs in dim forest light while trying to keep them in focus with a wide-aperture and slow shutter is a challenge in itself.

I've not had the opportunity to do photography in any large coniferous forests yet, so I don't know how much this will apply, but in dense deciduous forests color-balance is a large concern of mine. The auto modes in the camera are continually going to try to compensate for the pervasive green cast in all photos. In the forests I've been in, that leafy canopy above is a HUGE green filter, casting it's effect on everything. If I know it's a sunny day out, or cloudy, I will chose those color presets over automatic ones. I don't want no auto-anything to wipe out those rich colors. Your photos may be richly green, but the colors will be authentic, retaining that natural ambiance -- that most want to destroy, making their forest photos look fake and staged. Just because your gray-card for white-balance is green now, doesn't mean you should adjust it to look gray again. I *might* tone down the green cast in post-processing a little, but it's best if it's there to begin with, so it accurately conveys the location and subjects.

See what appeals to you more, but try to not rely on that auto white-balance. It's like trying to take a picture of a sunset with auto white-balance. It wipes out all the rich hues of golds and reds. A mistake that so many make with their new "auto everything" cameras. Then they wonder why their photo didn't look as spectacular as what they saw. (put you camera into a daylight white-balance to capture the rich colors of the sunset)

There's a few tips, I'll try to think of more. Or if you have more specific questions.

You may be in for a pleasant surprise when you get there and actually try some shots. I spend much time in very similar conditions in the Santa Cruz and San Francisco Bay areas and can usually do pretty much what I want with my S2. As long as you can steady the camera to allow slow shutter speeds you should be fine as far as the density of the canopy and any overcast conditions. In fact, I usually welcome an overcast sky as it cuts down on blowouts due to light coming through the canopy. What's really tough is a bright day with lots of light streaking through. It's gorgeous to the eye, but makes it very difficult to get good exposures. You can always give a little tweak in PP to finish the shots that are close to what you want.

Here's an example from late last year, taken late in the afternoon with quickly fading light in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Cloudy sky after a day of light rain. I'm sorry, but I don't remember what I did PP, but I'm sure I lightened it a bit. Vitals: ISO 100, 1/8s, f2.7, -0.33eV

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Keoeeit wrote in post #3054714
There's a few tips, I'll try to think of more. Or if you have more specific questions.

Thank you very much f or sharing. Are there any filters that will help with the fog and haze or do they just deteriate the end result?

Thank you

Jim Curts

pescare wrote in post #3054735
in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Cloudy sky after a day of light rainHere's an example from late last year, taken late in the afternoon with quickly fading light . I'm sorry, but I don't remember what I did PP, but I'm sure I lightened it a bit. Vitals: ISO 100, 1/8s, f2.7, -0.33eV

That is certainly a good photo and it appears the conditions were actually a plus for the shot.

I am pretty much locked into using a tripod due to having the old age wobbles so longer exposures will not be a problem.

Thank you

Jiim Curts

Thanks Keoeeit for that tidbit.

wickiup wrote in post #3056709
Thank you very much f or sharing. Are there any filters that will help with the fog and haze or do they just deteriate the end result?

Thank you

Jim Curts

The only filter I can suggest would be a polarizing filter (or perhaps 2 of them, explanation following).

A polarizing filter can get rid of any extra glare on foliage and wet surfaces. Intensifying their colors and allowing you to accurately record their textures. The HUGE drawback is that you're now losing up to 2 more f/stops of light. Again, a good reason be prepared for longer exposures.

Now, why carry 2 polarizers? If you cross them to each other you can adjust the amount of light coming through. (2 inexpensive linear ones are fine, or if you are using a circular one put it to the lens-side, and linear one out in front, or the half-wave layer in the circular polarizer prevents crossed-polarizers from cancelling out the light.) If you run across any streams or falls (as in the above excellent example), you can "dial-in" just how slow of a shutter speed you want to use to blur that moving water. I prefer this over carrying several ND filters to do the same thing by stacking them, plus you get much finer control over the EXACT amount of blurring you want. If the crossed-filters are imparting their own color-cast (greenish, or when crossed blueish, as many polarizers do), then you can use the auto-white-balance to compensate. Or touch up that extra color-cast in post-processing.

I know of no filters that will get rid of the haze and fog (and do you really want to do that? I pray for foggy/hazy days, what a great ambiance and way to convey the depth and richness in some scene). Other than when using my Sony F717 in infrared mode and it allows me to shoot through it. It worked exceptionally well when trying to capture distant mountain peaks during some forest fires, the dense smoke masking them completely from visible light.

The two photos below made excellent use of some morning fog/mist. The "zoom blur" was not done in the computer, that's how it looked in real life. And the double-image was the tree's shadow on a couple layers of this mist (acting like rear-projection screens) over a canal. Both taken moments apart from each other.

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Those are certainly nice examples of getting outstanding results.

I understand the polarizer bit and appreciate the help.

Jim Curts

Also along these lines what are you guys thoughts on turning the IS on or off with this S3 IS while on tripod? The one I use is a very light one not all that totally rigid if there is much breeze, etc..

Jim Curts

wickiup wrote in post #3059228
Also along these lines what are you guys thoughts on turning the IS on or off with this S3 IS while on tripod? The one I use is a very light one not all that totally rigid if there is much breeze, etc..

Jim Curts

I've only had my S3 IS for a week now, and it's the first camera I've ever used with IS, so my advice might not be totally valid. But from what I can tell so far (by testing my camera on a couple tripods)...

Use the self-timer, using its custom-time setting, set to 3-5 seconds to allow any camera shake from leaving the camera when shooting on a tripod. Not having a remote-cable handy, this is a pretty good work-around. Watch with your own eye through the viewfinder and the camera on full-zoom + digital zoom to see how many seconds it takes for the shake to die-down after touching the camera. Increase that self-timer delay if needed. (In telescopes you have to sometimes wait a half minute or more depending on the magnification and sturdiness of the mount.) If all shake will settle out of the tripod after a reasonable amount of time then turn IS off. If even after 3-5 seconds you still notice the image shaking on occasion from breezes or just a really flimsy tripod (I have one of those for packing ultra-light), then leave IS on.

Again, I don't know if this advice will hold up in the field but it seems pretty sound reasoning and is what I'll be doing.

Flimsy Tripod Tip: Without using too much weight to collapse your tripod -- hang something heavy from the center of the tripod. (Your coat, camera bag, a rock tied to a string, etc.) Its extra weight will pull down and lock the tripod and the extra mass will keep it from being moved so easily by winds.

Keoeeit wrote in post #3059889
I've only had my S3 IS for a week now, and it's the first camera I've ever used with IS, so my advice might not be totally valid. But from what I can tell so far (by testing my camera on a couple tripods)...

Use the self-timer, using its custom-time setting, set to 3-5 seconds to allow any camera shake from leaving the camera when shooting on a tripod. Not having a remote-cable handy, this is a pretty good work-around. Watch with your own eye through the viewfinder and the camera on full-zoom + digital zoom to see how many seconds it takes for the shake to die-down after touching the camera. Increase that self-timer delay if needed. (In telescopes you have to sometimes wait a half minute or more depending on the magnification and sturdiness of the mount.) If all shake will settle out of the tripod after a reasonable amount of time then turn IS off. If even after 3-5 seconds you still notice the image shaking on occasion from breezes or just a really flimsy tripod (I have one of those for packing ultra-light), then leave IS on.

Again, I don't know if this advice will hold up in the field but it seems pretty sound reasoning and is what I'll be doing.

Flimsy Tripod Tip: Without using too much weight to collapse your tripod -- hang something heavy from the center of the tripod. (Your coat, camera bag, a rock tied to a string, etc.) Its extra weight will pull down and lock the tripod and the extra mass will keep it from being moved so easily by winds.

Again, Thanks for the info. I never thought of of the timer to check shake. Am devising a cable release that I hope is simple and workable. I have a weight bag that goes with me.

Jim Curts